Product supply
Available formats for the product
OS VectorMap Local is supplied in four different formats:
Raster: GeoTIFF (Geographic Tagged Image File Format) LZW (Lempel Ziv Welch)
Full Colour
Backdrop
Black & White
If LZW compressed formats are used, then registration may be required. Information is available on the Unisys® website.
Vector: GML (Geography Markup Language) 3.2.1
Vector: GeoPackage
Vector: Vector tiles (MBTiles)
GeoTIFF option
GeoTIFF LZW is a TIFF file which has geographic (or cartographic) data embedded as tags within it. The geographic data can then be used to position the image in the correct location and with precise geometry on the screen of a geographic information display.
GeoPackage option
OS VectorMap Local is supplied in GeoPackage format. GeoPackage (.gpkg) is an open, non-proprietary, platform independent and standards-based data format for geographic information systems (GIS), as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy to distribute and ready to use file. GeoPackage is natively supported by numerous software applications.
For information on how to open, use and understand a GeoPackage dataset, please refer to our Getting Started with GeoPackage guide here.
Vector tiles option
OS VectorMap Local is supplied as a national vector tile set in a single MBTiles file (combined from individual PBF tiles). This is a lightweight set of tiles that are efficient to render in supported software, provide high-resolution data and give a seamless experience when zooming in and out. The data is supplied in Web Mercator projection (ESPG:3857).
Product supply mechanism
All formats are available to download from the OS Data Hub.
Please note that as OS VectorMap Local is a premium dataset, it requires users to hold the Premium or Public Sector Plan to access the data.
File sizes for the available formats
GeoTIFF
10 591 tiles, each covering 5km x 5km
Each tile named as 5km, for example, NS56NE.tif
Full supply or change-only update (COU) option; the order option will allow selection between full supply, changed tiles or no update
Approximate file sizes:
Full Colour: 0.3 to 16.2mb
Backdrop: 0.3 to 15.8mb
Black & White: 0.1 to 6mb
As change is generated as real-world change as well as change created through the generalisation process, COU GeoTIFF data volumes will be high.
GML
10 591 tiles each covering 5km x 5km
Each tile named as 5km, for example, NS56NE.gz
Full supply or COU option; the order option will allow selection between full supply, changed features (COU) or no update
Approximate file size of 15kb–1mb
As change is generated as real-world change as well as change created through the generalisation process, COU GML data volumes will be high.
Seamless data
Features that cross tile edges will not be cut, maintaining the topological relationships of all features. These tiles are often referred to as 'hairy' tiles. This avoids the creation of invalid geometries by arbitrary cutting and facilitates greater use of the data in analytical applications. Due to their size, some features (for example, tidelines and contours) will continue to be cut. There will be a requirement for some de-duplication around tile edges.
GeoPackage
Full national set or area of interest (AOI) tiles are combined into a single GeoPackage file for each customer supply
Single GeoPackage tiles will be de-duplicated
Full supply option only, no COU
Full national set with an approximate file size of 80gb
GeoPackage file naming
Full GB set:
vml_gb_publication date’.file extension
For example, vml_gb_20180101.gpkg
AOI orders:
vml_ordernumber_randomnumber.file extension
For example, vml_12345678_8765abcd.gpkg
Vector tiles
A zipped file comprising a single national MBTiles file
The single MBTiles file contains a full set of national vector tiles, with options available to split these out into individual tiles as PBF files
Full national set with an approximate file size of 29gb
The data is not encrypted
Vector tiles file naming
Full GB set:
vml_gb.mbtiles
When zipped: vml_mbtiles_gb.zip
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